Kesha sent shockwaves through the music industry today when she filed a major lawsuit against her producer, Dr. Luke.
According to TMZ, the 27-year-old pop star is accusing the hitmaker — whose real name is Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald — of sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abusing her over the course of their working relationship, which lasted nearly a decade.
Kesha was only 18 when Dr. Luke signed her to his record label, Kemosabe Entertainment. The lawsuit alleges that the abuse started from the very beginning, when Dr. Luke would ply her with drugs and alcohol, and sexually assault her once her defenses were down.
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In one particularly disturbing incident, Kesha recalled a frightening incident in which Dr. Luke attacked her by "violently thrashing his arms," and she was forced to escape his Malibu home by running barefoot down the Pacific Coast Highway before taking refuge in the nearby mountains.
"This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for 10 years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and an instance of sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke,” Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, told TMZ.
Kesha had previously accused Dr. Luke of abuse after she checked herself into rehab to get treatment for an eating disorder. "Dr. Luke had been telling her how she had to get in shape and lose weight and all this stuff," Kesha's mother told People in January. "She was exercising and dieting and ultimately doing everything she could, but not getting thin fast enough. And that's when she first became bulimic."
Kesha and Dr. Luke collaborated on a string of hits for the singer, including "Supernatural" and "Die Young." The lawsuit is asking that she be freed from her current contract with him.
"The facts presented in our lawsuit paint a picture of a man who is controlling and willing to commit horrible acts of abuse in an attempt to intimidate an impressionable, talented, young female artist into submission for his personal gain," Geragos added. "Kesha is focused on moving her life and her career beyond this terrible time."
TMZ is also reporting that Dr. Luke has filed a countersuit against Kesha, claiming that the allegations in her lawsuit are fabrications perpetrated by Kesha's mother and her management team, as a way to free Kesha from her contract with him. The producer also claims that Kesha has been trying to extort him for months by threatening to file the lawsuit. According to Dr. Luke's lawyer, Christine Lepera, Kesha's lawsuit is just the latest in a long "a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements." We'll have more on this as it develops. (Rolling Stone)